Famous Manhole Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Manhole poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous manhole poems. These examples illustrate what a famous manhole poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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christmas in a box

by Rg Gregory
 the policeman on the streets
found christmas in a box
tipped it down a manhole
it wasn't wearing socks

a little old lady nearby - 
the poor sod's done no harm
she got hit with a truncheon
for spreading false alarm

the policeman then went home
pleased his job was done
called for his christmas dinner
but dinner there was none

his wife with the lodger
his children gone for good
he...Read more of this...

The Vanishing Red

by Robert Frost
 He is said to have been the last Red man
In Action. And the Miller is said to have laughed--
If you like to call such a sound a laugh.
But he gave no one else a laugher's license.
For he turned suddenly grave as if to say,
'Whose business,--if I take it on myself,
Whose business--but why talk round the barn?--
When it's just that...Read more of this...

Manhole Covers

by Karl Shapiro
 The beauty of manhole covers--what of that?
Like medals struck by a great savage khan,
Like Mayan calendar stones, unliftable, indecipherable,
Not like the old electrum, chased and scored,
Mottoed and sculptured to a turn,
But notched and whelked and pocked and smashed
With the great company names
(Gentle Bethlehem, smiling United States).
This rustproof artifact of my street,
Long after roads are melted away will lie
Sidewise in...Read more of this...

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